


Self Actualization

by Ocp



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:02:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25118080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ocp/pseuds/Ocp
Summary: Edward Nashton turns into Edward Nygma, and that should be enough... shouldn't it?-Experimental character study.
Kudos: 4





	Self Actualization

**Author's Note:**

> Writing is still scary but another attempt was made!  
> Unbeta'd & not a native speaker.

Being ever so desperate to leave where you are, that the destination doesn't matter. Running to the most crowded place you can think of, packed so tight, you cant even tell where your shoes begin and your hat ends. 

At first it won't even matter that you know nobody there. It's prefered. They won't know you either - nobody will ask about you, or them - no scale of comparison to anyone but yourself.

And it will be fine.

Change your name for good measure. A small murder, but the bureaucratic kind. The old you is gone and burried in a clever twist, the new you is here to... stay?

But are you really here to stay, or is this but a pit stop on the grande road of surviving day, after day, after day, climbing the rope until you bump against the ceiling, hoping something will give? 

Something does, you're almost sure it wasn't you, so this must count as an exit. 

You've left. 

So, is this all there is?  
The game has been won. You've escaped, gotten away, changed so much even your own mother won't recognize you. If she ever could that is.

And your prize?  
Another day at the office. Another march home among other escapees. Another day in the little kingdom you built for yourself. Everything you could ever want for is right here. Isn't it?

But... is this really it? The thing everybody works so hard towards to preserve and obtain? This?

You think that maybe you're doing something wrong. It might just simply be that something is missing. You ignore the snickering that's been mercifully quiet for so long. 

Surely you've got it right this time. The job, your own place, a small income, and all the things you ever wanted laid out right in front of you, ready to occupy your mind with. Quiet and... peace? 

But if this is the promised tranquility why does it still feel all wrong? Like something isn't quite right. You know it isn't companionship you're lacking, not per se. Really, you see plenty of people every day, familar and new, and you talk to them. They don't always reply, but that could be because they feel comfortable enough to share the silence with you. 

So why.  
Of all the things, why is it back again. You were sure you left him with the others. Might even killed him when you signed away your name. 

But you know he's there.  
And when he isn't laughing, he's cat like smiling at you. Because he knows what you know, you know what he knows, and you try to ignore it.


End file.
